He’s not going to be any kind of big price in this spot, but I view GOING STRONG (#4) as a very likely winner and think he would be a solid play at odds of 2-1 or greater. There is plenty of speed signed on for this event, with the likes of Control Group, Vilma, Dogtown, and Phat Man all potentially contesting the pace. Going Strong should be sitting in a perfect spot behind those runners, and he’s proven that he’s capable of winning at this level.

I thought that he ran extremely well last time given his trip. He’s a big, loping runner who takes a while to get into top gear. Therefore, it probably was not the best idea for his rider to send him through inside of runners on the far turn last time. He ended up losing momentum and getting shuffled back before abruptly switching to the far outside. He then launched a prolonged rally from the back of the pack and made a solid late run at the winner, who had gotten the jump on him.

I’ll primarily use him over Vilma (#2), who beat a weaker group last time but did so in fast time, Shadow Rider (#5), who appears to have improved for this new barn, and Phat Man (#6), who steps up against older horses after putting in a game effort at Keeneland.